Pavel Vršecký

“Well, that was my greatest dilemma. Because I had been wowed by the flat. I also got it within two months - in Černý Most. I came out in front of the boys; Kocek, Doležal, Vačkář were there. Kocek was placed third in the worlds, Vačkář was the runner-up. I was an average cyclist who raced in all the categories but excelled in none. So that was a big dilemma. I loved cycling; from that time on I cycled with them on all the training runs, until 1980, the Olympics. In the first phase, I pushed in the direction I was taught by Mr Cihlář. General fitness, team. I took advice from Doležal, Kocek, and Vačkář, whom I had a lot of disputes with. I wasn’t the type to say something would be like this or like this. I always worked things out somehow. I got the hang of it in time. Personally, I don’t remember a single case in my whole career when a racer would refuse to listen to me or would tell me I was a dick.”

“I really do think that I was unpopular with the racers. They didn’t like me, because I was strict, tough. I sometimes demanded more from them than was right. But in hindsight, today, when I meet them, then perhaps two percent of them still hate me. The others recognise me, remember. So I think that I was lucky that I built on the team, and I was lucky that I always managed to get the key people that I needed to win over. They were able to keep the team in the right direction and support me in that.”